With the TFH beta scheduled to drop any day now, and the full release of the actual game little more than a month or so away, it's time to start spinning things back into action. Of course, after some initial efforts and a long "hiatus" from planned events/get-togethers, it's clear that our little group needs a bit of a refocusing. "Who are we? What is our goal? What are our plans?" The initial answers to these questions were insufficient, so let's redefine a little.

The Fightin' Fœnatics exist to be a community within a community...an unofficial crew dedicated to welcoming a suspected influx of 2D-fightin' newbies with open arms. With the Internet as vast as it is, truly thirsty newcomers can find the information and develop the experience they need to win elsewhere; we both understand that and readily admit there are (substantially) more potent outlets available to achieve success. However, our goal is not to be the ultimate training platform for beginners. With our resources, we can't really be that.

What we offer instead is a group aimed at delivering some targeted training to willing beginners in need, while simultaneously providing a schedule of events (and possibly more prize giveaways) to help foster a feeling of community. If you don't think you need training, you're still welcome to come play with us in the various online tourneys and "FF Plays" events we plan on organizing, but if you do, then hey...just ask. We'll be here for you.

Make no mistake, the FGC can be a rowdy place sometimes, so often new players are intimidated by the attitudes or language of tourney-goers/online warriors. While that salty soul is part of the FGC's lasting appeal, it's not for everyone, and many of us feel that offerring a toned-down version might suit a game where promoting "community" is already an official goal.

THE METHODS, V2
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In the past, we requested data (player skill, availability, fighting games owned, etc.) from members solely for the purpose of scheduling training and matches. This data was maintained on a spreadsheet and was to be referenced in an attempt at a methodical approach at match-up management. We intended to stream/record these sessions as they occurred.

It didn't really work, however, as people both didn't fill out the spreadsheet and rarely approached experienced members for proper "one-on-one" training sessions. A few sessions did occur and might still be recorded somewhere, but for the most part we just met up online for social pleasantries, weekly/monthly tournies in inexpensive fighters like Skullgirls/Melty Blood, and the occasional non-fighting game group event. I provided some participation incentives (tournament prizes and "Player of the Month" awards amounting to mostly just Steam games), and that was really about it. To be honest, as loose as it was, there wasn't really anything wrong with it...we just started far too early. One of the biggest criticisms was that we were suggesting training in games that, no matter how you looked at it, simply weren't Them's Fightin' Herds.

Well, the game's beta is now almost upon us, with the game itself following quite soon. With that, we would like to return to semi-regularly scheduled streams, training, events, and tourneys...with a temporary catch. The beta will be open to certain-tiered backers only, and us participants will all be bound by a non-disclosure agreement for the duration. We are not expecting to be able to stream, record, display, or discuss aspects of the beta in any way to non-participants, so while we have no issues engaging in TFH-related training and community-building for beta-players, we must relegate non-beta FF members to non-TFH events for the time being (which we still plan on having to help keep everyone entertained/involved).

Effectively, we don't want to leave you out in the cold as we kick back into gear, but we will not break any terms of the NDA out of both respect for Mane6 and simple legal obligations. Any member determined to be breaking NDA rules will be immediately banned from the group, along with any penalties incurred by the NDA itself.

THE CONTACT INFO
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If this dreadfully long introduction has been AT ALL interesting to you, and you agree with/have suggestions for the methods to my attempt at managing and evolving this group, please follow on Twitter @FightinFoenatic. Additionally, you can email fightingfoenatics@gmail.com, or contact me via Steam (Superhacker75mil) or Discord ("Songhacker" or "Fighting Fœnatics").​

Backers' Beta Tester

This is a good thread. From the other introductory threads, it actually looks like a lot of TFH fans have little to no fighting game experience, which I find pretty surprising.

Hardware allowing, I intend on doing some educational streams and maybe even slapping together some tutorial videos. I don't play fighting games much anymore and wasn't that good even in my prime, but I think I have a lot of accumulated knowledge to spread around.

Backers' Beta Tester

This is a good thread. From the other introductory threads, it actually looks like a lot of TFH fans have little to no fighting game experience, which I find pretty surprising.

Hardware allowing, I intend on doing some educational streams and maybe even slapping together some tutorial videos. I don't play fighting games much anymore and wasn't that good even in my prime, but I think I have a lot of accumulated knowledge to spread around.

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By all means. As mentioned, tons of material is out there already, but I'm of the opinion it'll take a bit more of a personal touch to get the ball rolling for a number of people here. Join up on the Skype chat or give me some deets here so we can start synching up people's schedules and make progress happen.

Backers' Beta Tester

I'm really glad he's been expressing interest in the game. I mean, it seems only natural based on the appeal of the content/aesthetics, but I imagine it's also because it simply looks like a great game in the making.

Backers' Beta Tester

By all means. As mentioned, tons of material is out there already, but I'm of the opinion it'll take a bit more of a personal touch to get the ball rolling for a number of people here. Join up on the Skype chat or give me some deets here so we can start synching up people's schedules and make progress happen.

Backers' Beta Tester

I like the idea behind this but not so much a fan of the base game being used atm (I have Skullgirls on 360/PS3/PC and tried to like it, I really did, but figured after so much time that it wasn't a fighter I was motivated to really practice in.)

Now with that being said, SFV is releasing very soon and the amount of popularity that game is getting begs to believe that people in this forum will be buying it as well.

Being a 2D fighter it fits into the theme of TFH. So what I'm saying is, will the current platform fighter for this idea switch or involve SFV possibly?

Crowdfund Backer

As an inexperienced-ish fighting game player who really wants to be good at TFH when it comes out, I'd love to do something like this... if... I had Skullgirls. That would be something of a roadblock. ^^'

Backers' Beta Tester

If you would please, attempt to join the Skype group via the link at the beginning of the first post; someone else tried to and it wasn't working for them, and actually I can't seem to add them to the chat no matter what I do, so I want to see if it's an isolated instance or not.

I like the idea behind this but not so much a fan of the base game being used atm (I have Skullgirls on 360/PS3/PC and tried to like it, I really did, but figured after so much time that it wasn't a fighter I was motivated to really practice in.)

Now with that being said, SFV is releasing very soon and the amount of popularity that game is getting begs to believe that people in this forum will be buying it as well.

Being a 2D fighter it fits into the theme of TFH. So what I'm saying is, will the current platform fighter for this idea switch or involve SFV possibly?

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It's a decent point, and from all accounts it's a more accessible game than Ultra. Additionally, the V-Triggers are sort of similar to the Magic system (though not quite as much as BlazBlue's Drives), so there's also that. One thing that won't be similar is that SFV uses still double quarter circle motions for its supers (as far as I recall; I haven't preordered so I haven't touched the beta other than to watch it), and while that's not really a big deal, it's a frequent turn-off to beginners when compared to single quarter circle supers in other games (to include TFH). Another issue is that (from what I've seen but feel free to correct me) the combos in SFV won't be quite as lenient or lengthy as those found in TFH due to different mechanics. Skullgirls is on the other side of the coin, with combos being much longer and free-form than anything we're likely to see in TFH, but as a result it could at least be a better starting point.

However, the main problem is that, as mentioned, I haven't played SFV at all. Though I'm sure I could pick it up quickly enough, I wouldn't know much about the characters and the systems out of the gate so it would take some time before I personally would feel comfortable teaching anyone. Granted, I've already explained that I'm far from the best, so assuming others join on to do some teaching that's not really an issue. Additionally, one of the main focuses for the group is getting beginners up to speed with how to play fighting games in general; I suppose ultimately it wouldn't really take more than a few weeks to a month for me to be comfortable enough with the characters/mechanics to teach fighters within the framework of SFV vice Ultra.

I guess I should also say that "not knowing the characters" is a bit of an overstatement, since I've used a number of them in various prior iterations of Street Fighter (I'll be maining Karin should I pick it up), but that's not saying much given the significant engine differences and individual overhauls that SFV has applied to them.

For now, if nothing else, players will find Skullgirls to be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper and therefore easier to get their hands on should they not already have it. Forcing everyone to shell out $60 to participate (for a game that's still not close enough to the target game most of us have already sorta' paid for) doesn't really seem like the most sensible option.

Backers' Beta Tester

As an inexperienced-ish fighting game player who really wants to be good at TFH when it comes out, I'd love to do something like this... if... I had Skullgirls. That would be something of a roadblock. ^^'

I'll look into that, maybe get back to you...

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It shouldn't be all that expensive to acquire the base game, and the Steam version is frequently on some sort of sale.

Backers' Beta Tester

As an inexperienced-ish fighting game player who really wants to be good at TFH when it comes out, I'd love to do something like this... if... I had Skullgirls. That would be something of a roadblock. ^^'

I'll look into that, maybe get back to you...

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Keep checking steam or humblebundle.com for discounts. I managed to get Skullgirls for USD 3.00 on humblebundle.com. The Fighting Foenatics skype chat were the ones who actually alerted me to the discount.

Backers' Beta Tester

I would be interested in joining said groups, but I'm one who'd join more for the social bits rather then for training. That seems to go a bit against the theme of the group.

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Just a little. Although a little free-form in the past, I'm looking to keep the Skype chat focused on group improvements/suggestions/match-making/scheduling and the like; it's also a go-to VOIP option during streams and stuff but we could start trying to use Discord a bit more as well, maybe even shift over.

Even so, there's no harm in joining the chat or posting here so long as things don't get bogged down. Despite having had this plan months ago, things are still pretty formative.

Backers' Beta Tester

I see what you mean there in the sense of SFVs combos wont resemble TFH combo system (which is very true.) Though on the price point, it's only $33 over at CDkeys.com right now so if anyone is interested in the game but not willing to shell out $60, head on over there!

Backers' Beta Tester

I'm already part of the whole skype group and all that. I'm just trying to get settled in a new place that has acceptable internet, or fixing the internet at my current place. Otherwise I love me some fight game.

Backers' Beta Tester

I'm already part of the whole skype group and all that. I'm just trying to get settled in a new place that has acceptable internet, or fixing the internet at my current place. Otherwise I love me some fight game.

Crowdfund Backer

I've been hoping for a community like this to pop up. I'm new to fighters and less than confident, so to have others to practice with would help me a lot. I'm down to join.

On SFV: I'm planning to play it anyway, so if the Fœnatics were to move there (or at least maintain a presence) I'd like that. Skullgirls has always been a bit intimidating, what with its ludicrous combos and character diversity. I don't think anyone would have to teach SFV, per se - it might be enough to have a community of beginners learning and improving together.

Backers' Beta Tester

For today's stream session, we're aiming for a window between 8:30-9:00 PM US EST to get set up and work out kinks before starting. If you're not around by 9 PM, we'll be moving on without you.

It would be good to get an idea of what people want to do first, and who's available to do it. Here are the options:

We can do our first Swiss/round-robin style casual tournament, streamed on Twitch. We'll use a Challonge bracket and we'll record the wins/losses in a tracker separate from (or within; it doesn't matter too much) the member tracker to begin managing individual progression and matchups as time goes by. Since there won't be any elimination, everyone will get a good number of matches, but this will probably force us to not stream every match for time constraints.

We can do a training stream, where trainees hop in and out as we discuss, demonstrate, and help people practice basic fighting game and Skullgirls-specific techniques. Since there'll be a bit of a delay, spectators can ask questions via the stream chat while players will stick to a voice channel so that there aren't any confusing overlays and time-lapses in communication. Trainers will do their best to answer questions as they pop-up in the Twitch chat overlay. We'll rotate trainees every so often to give everyone who wants to participate a fair shot.

We only have a couple of member schedules posted in #resources so far, so we'll need people to speak up here to plan for who's participating.

Backers' Beta Tester

I too, would like to invest myself but, well I'm French so my availability are rather different from most of you sadly ;(

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These issues are easily worked around. For one, I'm free every other Saturday/Sunday (I'm working this weekend, off next). For another, LapinZinski, we already have a UK player and a UAE player participating. We can make things work.

Backers' Beta Tester

Skullgirls was never really something that grabbed me, but since it is currently on sale on Steam (only 3 bucks!) I'll give it a go. I've been playing other fighting games for years, but not until around 5 years did I take them seriously, so I've usually played alone. I've developed bad habits because of that and need a proper thrashing to learn core fundamentals I tend to ignore (I swear I'm not helpless though! I'd like to think I'm an intermediate fighter in the games I'm most invested in). I'm free with my time quite often but I'm terrible at being reliable, so I'm not sure how well I'll fit in here.